Being Human: 17 Ways It's Complicated

Misconceptions about Race, Gender, Sexuality, Aggression & Evolution. This list was created by 17 students as part of an anthropology class at Quinnipiac University.

1. No, we didn't evolve from chimps

Via en.wikipedia.org

Humans did not evolve from chimpanzees, but rather diverged off from a common ancestor, forging two separate branches on an evolutionary tree: one that led to modern humans and one that led to chimpanzees. Estimates used to put this divergence at about 6-10 million years ago, while newer estimates could push it back as far as 13 million years based on rates of genetic mutation. Essentially, chimps and other apes are not perfect models for understanding human behavior since our evolutionary paths diverged so long ago. As our closest living relatives, these species do give us clues about our past, but cannot give complete certainty. Up to 13 million years of separate evolution is a lot of time to create our own identity as organisms. What this time did not create is a significant biological difference between different races and genders.

2. There are no angry kids

Via flickr.com

Aggression doesn’t occur naturally in children. Children who are victims of neglect have a greater risk of being aggressive later in their life because of strain on the child’s development. Neglect results in poor hygiene and a higher rate of illness which can make their relationships with other children more difficult. In this study, researchers found that boys are more likely to respond with aggression than girls, but women have been the largest growing population in prisons for both juvenile and adults.

3. Race is more than skin deep in culture

Via flickr.com

Some people would like to believe that the United States of America is a post-racial society. In other words, that race is not an issue. But a study published in The American Journal of Sociology says otherwise. White felons with a criminal record have a better chance of getting a job when compared to young black men with no criminal record at all. Keep in mind that skin color is an adaptation to areas with high levels of sunlight - darker skin protects people from the potential damage of UV radiation. If this is the case, why do employers prefer skin color over past offenses? Why should someone's biology, something they cannot control, stop them from getting a job?

4. Disney is gendering our children

Via Flickr: dbhumphrey

Although there is a drive towards non-gendering our children, gendering was the norm in our country’s roots. Gendering is the process of labeling an individual by using either masculine or feminine characteristics. Toys are actually more gendered now than they were in the ’20s. A modern study examining Disney’s website shows that gendering is quite common in our generation. On their website, toys were listed under a “for boys” link or a “for girls” link – some toys listed under both sections, but there was no “for boys and girls” section. Society is forcing us to choose one of the two genders, even though science has shown there are more than just two.

5. Nice guys finish last?

Via crazierlife.com

Nice guys finish last has been a motto for getting the girl and for getting the job.

Science shows that nice guys don’t always finish last. Humans have a compulsion to repay kindness with kindness; we establish a reputation of being nice so others will want to work with us. The “nice guys myth” exists because nice guys are often associated with other negative traits such as being boring, desperate, or socially awkward.

6. Socioeconomic status has an effect on smarts

Via healthworkscollective.com

After scanning the brains of 1,099 children and adolescents from 3 to 20 years old, scientists found a relationship between socioeconomic status and brain size, especially in the brain regions supporting language, reading, cognitive control, and spatial skills. The lower the family income, the smaller the brain surface area, and the most disadvantaged children have exponentially more difficulty with these skills. This study is just more evidence that the concept of human development as “naturenurtural”, or the fusion of culture and biology as one, is a real thing and plays an important role in shaping who we are.

7. It’s a Girl…no it’s a Boy…it’s a Baby?!?!

Via imagesonconcretewordsonpaper.wordpress.com

The first question everyone asks after having a baby is… “is it a boy or a girl?” Unfortunately, for about one out of 2,000 births, the answer is not always clear and the child will be labeled intersexed. Parents, in a very emotional state, are left to make a quick decision if they want their child to live as a male or female with the help of a team of medical specialists and ethicists. However debates surround the issue of genital reassignment surgery soon after birth. Sometimes the choice is successful, but for the case of John/Joan and many other cases, children will rejected their gender reassignment and in late teens, decided that a different gender is right for them.

8. Biracial Identity Crisis

Via upload.wikimedia.org

Stress related to interracial marriage comes from societal disapproval, which leads to stress in the offspring, stemming from confusions and conflicts from having dual ethnicity. Typically, biracial children are socialized much more in one culture than the other, despite being aware of both. Society tells everybody that they belong in a group, which can cause confusion because they are not sure which of the two groups they belong in. This arbitrary biology can have long term affects for biracial children, affecting confidence, self-esteem, and ability to perform in social environments

9. The power of the warrior gene

Via kiaseeandjud.blogspot.com

The MAOA genotype has been studied intensely for finding a link for antisocial behavior, but according to the study done by Beaver, Barnes, and Boutwell there is more to it than just biology. These researchers have found that the 2-Repeat Allele in MAOA has a correlation with violent behavior in men; finding that men with the allele are more likely to commit violent acts than men without it, if it combines with certain environmental factors (such as childhood trauma). Thus demonstrating that the combination of environmental trauma with the genotype could have a chance of, possibly, leading to violent tendencies in men.

10. Even in medicine, there’s a gender bias

Via upload.wikimedia.org

Most of us know that heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S, but we still think of it as a “man’s problem”. Misconceptions about women and heart disease leave women with a higher risk of dying due to a heart attack. These misconceptions stem from the lack of equality between men and women in medical studies in the past. Researchers are finding women feel and show different symptoms of heart issues such as a consistent fever, jaw pain and long periods of fatigue while men experience pain in the chest and numbing of the arm. Only recently are researchers factoring in biological, social and behavioral differences between men and women. Hopefully, now women and doctors will be more aware of early signs of heart complications!

11. Racial stereotypes are brain-deep

Via upload.wikimedia.org

Implicit racial stereotyping and prejudice isn’t necessarily choice – it is a cognitive function. In a 2006 study, 150 Caucasian college students were asked to assign pleasant words, such as “peace”, and unpleasant words, such as “poverty”, to black and white faces. By and large, the college students were quicker to assign unpleasant words to black faces and quicker to assign pleasant words to white faces. The researchers, Patricia Devine and David Amodio, discovered that the racial biases represented societal constructs about race. Amodio and Devine theorize that that this implicit racial bias originates in the amygdala, which becomes active when we look at black and white faces. The amygdala is involved in fear conditioning, which basically means its job is to recognize which symbols are harmful and keep us away from them. Because racial stereotypes are symbols of something harmful, our amygdala internalizes these social constructs and impact the way that we view and interact with people of color.

12. LGB suicide attempts aren’t random

Via d1j2diro5xke84.cloudfront.net

People who associate as Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual, known as LGB sometimes feel they have to live as someone they’re not because society doesn’t accept them. As a result of this, they find it easier to check out of reality and commit suicide because they don’t feel comfortable enough in society. People in society don’t take LGBs and suicide as seriously as it should be taken. More white LGBs looked for treatment from medical and health professionals before their first suicide attempt compared to blacks and latinos. Shockingly, researchers found LGBs who seek mental health treatment from care providers are no less likely to attempt suicide than LGBs who didn’t seek treatment at all, and seeking help from religious or spiritual sources was associated with higher odds of suicide rates.

13. Aggression isn’t an adaptive trait

Via Flickr: afrikaforce

Aggression is not necessarily an evolutionary adaptation. Violence among nonhuman primates actually varies depending on circumstance and even species. Bonobos and chimps both differ in in how they display aggression. Bonobos are notably less violent than chimps. If aggression were an adaptation, both chimps and bonobos would share aggressive behaviors from their last common ancestor, which we had with these primates 6-10 million years ago.

14. Survival of the fittest survived…kinda

Via Flickr: somegeekintn

With all the medical advancements in the last few centuries, you might think that “survival of the fittest” has all but sputtered out. However, researchers have shown that our genes still have a significant impact on variation. Basically, when we reproduce, biology along with culture, society, and medical interventions all shape variation within our species. Some have argued that we are no longer evolving, but genes still have influence on human traits. So the next time you have a moment of self-doubt, just remember you have survival built into your DNA.

15. Sunlight exposure can determine our place in society

Via upload.wikimedia.org

Skin color has been and remains a major factor in the way we categorize society. Skin color marks someone’s race and their associated stereotypes, but what does skin color really mean? According to anthropologist Nina Jablonski, skin color is simply the result of sunlight and its UV rays entering the body. If more UV rays enter your body, which happens closer to the equator, your skin color becomes a darker pigmentation in order to protect against the ultraviolet radiation. Skin color didn’t arise specifically from different races, but simply from exposure to the sun. As technology modernized, people moved all over the world bringing darker pigmentations to areas with less sun. And isn’t it quite ridiculous to rank someone based on their ancestor’s exposure to the sun?

16. There may be differences between male and female brain wiring

Via upload.wikimedia.org

Scientists have drawn on nearly 1,000 brain scans to test what many have thought long ago: stark differences exist in the wiring of male and female brains. In these studies, scientists have looked at children only over the age of 8. However, most of our development occurs long before then. This idea that men’s brains are wired more for perception and coordinated actions, whereas women’s brains are wired more for social skills and memory, is not always the case. Most of the ways our brains are wired and how we act are due to if we’re raised as more rational or emotional, so we are not necessarily born with the decision making methods that we end up with as we grow.

17. Your moral compass isn’t innate

Via Flickr: marfis75

Like an intense game of “would you rather” researchers have long sought after the potential differences in moral decision-making among men and women. For example, would you smother a crying baby if it meant keeping a large group of people hidden from a killer alien? Research shows that both men and women engage in rational and calculated thinking, but women are more likely to make morally-driven and emotional decisions. Moral norms or codes are a product of culture and this difference in decision-making is often confused as biological differences between sexes and their sense of morality.